I could picket their stand at Friedrichshafen, I guess.
But they usually have so few visitors (at least compared to Garmin) that it might get boring.
Timothy wrote:
corporate untrustworthy behaviour
You’re certainly welcome to your opinion, but that is a broad statement about a practice that is very common in the business world today. Announcing and advertising products that don’t exist, along with promised delivery dates, has been around for decades and Avidyne certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on the activity. A couple common terms in use to describe it are “vapourware” and “slideware”.
Companies’ reputations are built on several pillars and keeping delivery promises is only one of them, even if it is important. You made a decision several years ago based on price difference, which is also a criteria. Not to defend Avidyne, but we all make purchase decisions and have to live with them. I wonder how may people were fuming at Garmin for being dishonest by selling them a wireless add-on box a week or month before the same and more functionality was announced for existing GPS/NAV/COMs via wireless data card at a fraction of the price and without installation costs.
I understand that your anti-Avidyne campaign in Europe is simply a personal attempt to put commercial pressure on Avidyne to deliver on their promise to you. But in the broader picture, who is served? Especially if it doesn’t have the desired impact? If your efforts limit their market share in Europe that will certainly hurt me personally as an owner of their products. So you are doing me as a fellow pilot a disservice.
I am sorry for that. But I think that I am doing a greater service those who decide not to get into that predicament in the first place.
… so you rather like to have a Garmin Monopoly? Or is there another Alternative? King? Becker?
Well,there are other manufacturers, of course, just none as successful as Garmin.
If Garmin were to become a monopoly and began to exploit it by being overpriced or underperforming, not doubt others would step in.
But surely we cannot admire Avidyne for no other reason than just existing?
so you rather like to have a Garmin Monopoly? Or is there another Alternative? King? Becker?
That’s a rather stark choice, isn’t it?
Would it not be better to have two companies both producing quality products and both treating customers well? Currently we have just one.
However I do understand that if one is (for example) flying behind an IFD box and with a DFC90, one may well encourage others to keep that one afloat 
That has been the driver behind a lot of heated posts on EuroGA.
Here in the UK, one huge company (£xBN) has just gone bust today. They will take down with them 1k-10k jobs among subcontractors, many of which will go bust. I don’t know if there were forums on that business but I am sure the same “don’t rock the boat” v. “be aware of xyz” debate was played out there.
Incidentally, the US POV may differ because Avidyne is better placed to serve the US. In Europe they are really stretched on customer service.
chflyer wrote:
Announcing and advertising products that don’t exist, along with promised delivery dates, has been around for decades and Avidyne certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on the activity. A couple common terms in use to describe it are “vapourware” and “slideware”.
There is a major difference between this and selling an actual product including a coupon for a future update and then not deliver the upgrade.
Peter wrote:
I think it is fairly obvious (to any business person) that they simply cannot,
I think Timothy is doing the right thing – but I think he will end upon having to invest in another solution.
pmh wrote:
he will end upon having to invest in another solution.
I have to admit that this has gone beyond a purely financial decision. If I were strongly motivated, I could probably raise the cash to put in a GTX345, and walk away.
But, as those who have read the thread on the Avidyne forum will have seen, this is more a matter of not being willing to be screwed over by large organisations and just accept being treated as a powerless worm. I think that people are worth more than that.
If we just let them continue, they will only get worse. I have already won against Epsom Council, Vodafone, Virgin Media and Zurich Insurance (when I say won, I mean cause them enough pain that they notice to the extent of reviewing their policy.)
Some may think that this is tipping at windmills. You may think me pathetic, or pompous, or overblown. That’s OK, I respect that opinion and your right to hold it, and your right to just suck up whatever is thrown at you. We are all individuals and our motivations are different. But my personality is that I will not be screwed over by a corporation and just shrug my shoulders.
As a boy, I was persuaded to be an engineer, because I went to an engineering school and everyone thought it would suit me. I just wish they had seen the barrister in me. I want to stand up for the little guy and see him count in a world run by faceless, uncaring organisations.
There, I’ve said it!
In that case redeem the buyers
I don’t think they can, unless the money was ring-fenced, which nobody (in this scenario) will do because then they cannot use it to find their business in the meantime.
I think properly they can do it but has made a decision to invest in another product that will return more money (IFD series).
Looking at this from the electronics technology POV, I am not sure that can be the explanation. The IFR product line is largely developed and now they are doing “just” incremental updates. The work involved in doing the ADS-B version of the TAS6xx range (the topic of this thread, I think) cannot be that much. So I think there is more to it than just pure software development.
The answer may lie in the history of this product line. Avidyne bought it from Ryan, which is a very old US company. You see the name in the Apollo programme books. They IIRC supplied the radar altimeters and other stuff for the moon landings. They probably still had the original hardware designers and programmers (of the TAS6xx) at the time Avidyne bought it. What I wonder is whether Avidyne have any access to the “technology”; specifically do they have the software sources and if so do they have anybody who can understand them?
As a related example I am pretty sure Honeywell don’t have any ability to do anything with the KFC225 software and have not had it since 2002 or so. Why? Everybody of relevance left! Same with the KLN94, etc.
In my business I sell products whose software cannot be (practically) updated. One of them has code from 1995. We would have to set up an old PC with DOS6.2 on it, and dig out old compilers which lock themselves to the HD on installation. Old dongles will be broken of course… But the products sell well, work 100%, have no bugs, and don’t need ADS-B support
You guys know that Garmin, Boeing, Gulfstream and just handful few others can certify their own stuff, right? FAA has granted them that exclusive right. It’s a whole different ballgame for everyone else. So when we read into the “if Garmin can do it so fast, they must have a much better product” loop, we should really be reading no, Garmin just has a much quicker regulatory path. Avidyne and all the other mere mortals, are at the mercy of the FAA certification colossus. This was one of the reasons the new 10.2 software update took so long for them – their mistake was to announce it before it was a done deal.
But it is not fair to judge all avionics manufacturers by Garmins speedy standards. Avidyne has a great product in the 540/440 series, loved by many with many converters from Garmin. This world is a better world because Avidyne is in it. And it’s even more important for Garmin owners that it remains that way, because monopoly never served anyone.
Be careful what you wish or ask for.
